Some creative suggestions for your Valentine from the arts sector

I noticed while doing my errands this afternoon, the final shopping day before that over-commercialized non-event known as Valentine's Day arrives, scores of people were scanning the card racks in the greeting card aisle as well as the candy and flower departments at several major stores in Niagara.

Now, I love chocolate as much as the next person, and knowing my significant other is thinking about me at least one day of the year is nice, but is all that commercialized hype really necessary?  What about the rest of the year?  Are we to forget about showing our appreciation the rest of the time?

Of course not.  Or at least, I hope not.

I got to thinking of other, more clever ways of showing your appreciation that might make that special person in your life notice you really went out of your way to create the "wow" factor on that special day, and it came to me the local performing arts scene might be a good place to start.

Just think about this for a moment:  rather than buy another box of chocolates or spring for a dozen roses that will be half the price next week when the hype is done with, why not get a nice card and enclose a pair of tickets to an upcoming performance your special someone might enjoy?

Herewith, some suggestions from your humble scribe...

This first is an easy one, as it happens tomorrow, February 14th.  Gallery Players of Niagara will make their debut at the Cairns Recital Hall at the new FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre Sunday afternoon at 2 pm with a performance featuring the Eybler Quartet.

The concert is appropriately entitled From the Heart and features a new transcription of Schumann's Liederkreis Op. 39, as well as Beethoven's very personal String Quartet Op. 18 # 6, subtitled "Melancholy", and several other works.  The Liederkreis performance will highlight the talents of special guest artist, Niagara's own baritone Brett Polegato.

So just include a note inside the card to make yourself available in the afternoon and head to the PAC for a romantic afternoon performance.  You could even sweeten the deal with brunch beforehand or dinner afterwards at one of several downtown restaurants close by.  It might be wise to make a reservation first, though, just in case.

For tickets to the Gallery Players concert tomorrow, call 905-468-1525 or call the PAC box office at 905-688-0722.

Speaking of events at the PAC, this coming week Essential Collective Theatre opens their second show at the Robertson Theatre, Suzanne Ristic's play Poor, described as an edgy, dark comedy about an ultra-rich woman whose wealthy lifestyle crumbles when she pretends to be homeless in order to better understand the plight of the other 99%.  It's a timely piece not without its fair share of humour, along with a very important message.

This mature content performance should make you think, and feeding the mind is just important as feeding the body, right?  Poor plays Wednesday night of this week and continues until the 28th of the month, with performances Wednesday through Saturday evenings at 8 pm and Sunday matinees at 2 pm.

For tickets, call the PAC box office at 905-688-0722.

For something a little different, why not catch the next Avanti Chamber Singers performance at Covenant Christian Reformed Church in north-east St. Catharines?  This great local choir directed by  Harris Loewen, performs as part of the annual Viva Voce! choral series hosted by the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine & Performing Arts at Brock University.

The next concert is Saturday, February 20th at 7:30 pm, and is entitled Animalia:  The Lighter Side of the Animal Kingdom and features the classic Saint-Saens Carnival of the Animals, of course, alongside Whitacre's Animal Crackers, as well as madrigals and part-songs by a host of composers.

Tickets will be available at the door on the evening of the performance, so just write a note saying where you're going next Saturday night and enclose it in the card and you're done.  Easy!

The next Niagara Symphony Orchestra Pops! concert comes up next weekend in the wonderful Partridge Hall at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre in downtown St. Catharines.  Performances are Saturday night at 7:30 and Sunday afternoon at 2:30 pm.

Bradley Thachuk conducts the NSO in a concert he's billed as "Oscar's Score Book" and features a host of Academy Award winning scores by composers ranging from John Williams and Henry Mancini to Erich Korngold and Howard Shore.  Most of the music will be quite familiar, but some rather obscure pieces might also make it onto the programme, I'm told.

Tickets are available by calling the PAC box office at 905-688-0722.

There are lots of other great performances at the PAC as well in their popular "Hot Ticket" series, including this week alone Jamie Adkins with Circus INcognitus with a family show at 7 pm on February 17th, and Steven Wright at Partridge Hall on the 18th at 7:30 pm.  Once again, the box office is your one-stop shop for all your PAC performances.

Finally, if your special someone likes jazz, why not slip a note in the card suggesting a night out on March 6th, when the acclaimed Twilight Jazz Series returns to the Mahtay Cafe & Lounge across from the PAC.  Canadian photographer, artist, singer and newscaster Angela Scappatura, who for a while covered the local arts scene for the St. Catharines Standard a few years ago, performs with Ross MacIntyre at Mahtay at 6 pm that Sunday evening.

Angela is still heard frequently reading the news on CBC Radio, and has performed with her group at jazz clubs around the world.  It should be a great concert and is sure to win over the heart of that special someone in your life.

Tickets should be available at the door.

So there you go - just make a call for tickets, or slip a note detailing the event in the card and you are done.  It doesn't get much better than that, and you enjoy our local arts scene as well as making someone happy.

Isn't that what Valentine's Day should be about?

Have a great weekend!

February 13th, 2016.